Edge and bottom protector for shoes.



E. O. & E. MARSHALL. EDGE AND BOTTOM PROTEGTOR FOR SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED APR 22, 1910.

Patented 0013.22, 1912.

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jig/f 2 w W WM pnrrnn srja'rns PATENT ora ion EDWARD C. MARSHALL AND"ER1IEST MARSHALL, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, AS-

SIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO NOVELTY SELLING COMPANY, 6FBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

nnen AND BOTTOM rnozrn'o'ronron snons.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Oct. 22,1912.

Application filed April 22, 1910. Serial No. 556,943.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD C. MAR- SHALL and ERNEST MARsnALL, of Lynn,

off and then to apply successive coats of a form of liquid enamel to thesurface with a cloth. or other means, so that the damaged portion isre'e'naineled. This damage usually occurs close to the edge of the shoe,and it is extremely difiicult, and almost impossible to perform thiswork without applying the liquid enamel to the projecting edge of thesole or the fair, or outer-sole-connecting stitches. As, in manyinstances, it is desired that these stitches be kept white and that thesurface of the extension edge, or the welt be finished in a light color,much difficultv has arisen in preventing discoloration of these parts ofthe shoe when the tip-repairing operation is performed.

In performing the work of tip-repairing, the fingers usually becomesoiled with the enamel, and, as the shoe mustbe held in one hand whilethe enamel is applied with the other, it frequently happens that thesole is stained by the fingers. It is also diiiicult to keep the benchat which the work is performed, free from the enamel, and, as it isoften convenient to place the shoe on the bench, the bottoms frequentlybecome soiled in this way. As a light colored finish is required for thesoles of many shoes, means for preventing these bottoms from beingsoiled is desirable.

in the manufacture of white canvas shoes,

or shoes having light-colored uppers, it is frequently necessary toclean the uppers after the shoe is otherwise finished. This cleaningoperation is frequently performed by the application of a liquidpreparation,

and much difliculty has been occasioned, in performing this operation,by reason of the fact that the liquid frequently runs down on the edgeand bottom of the sole, necessitating therefinishing thereof, and thusentailing additional expense.

The shoes which must be repaired or cleaned as above described aredelivered to the repairer in widely varying sizes and shapes so that itis practically essential that any protecting means which is employedshould be adapted for application to a widevariety of shapes and sizes,both for reasons of convenience and expense, and it is further desirablethat such protecting means be adapted for ready application and removal.

The objectof our invention is to provide a protecting device which willenable the tip repairing operation to be readily accomplished and which,at the same time, will effectively prevent damage either to the edge orthe bottom of the sole by the application of the tip-repairing enamel,from handling.

A further object of our invention is to provide a simple device whichmay be man ufactured at small expense and is adapted to be readilyapplied to, and removed from a shoe, and which is also adapted to holditself in place when applied, and to be readily conformed to a widevariety of sizes and shapes of soles, and thicknesses of edges.

We accomplish these objects by the means shown in "the' accompanyingdrawing, in which* Figure 1 is a. top plan View and Fig. 2 a bottom planview of a protecting device made according to our invention, andshowingit as applied to a certain form of sole, Fig. 3 is a section onthe line 33 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing theapplication of our device, Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional viewof an edge portion of the device and Fig. 6 is a bottom plan viewshowing the application of the device to a different form of sole fromthat shown in Fig. 2.

According to our invention, we provide a sole-protecting plate ofsuitable thickness, the contour of which corresponds to the contour of asole of medium size and shape, of ,the shoe soles to which the.device isdesigned to be applied, said protecting plateat points which may heconsidered as ad-- jacent the front ends of the corresponding 'peredwith relation t -the under side, so

side portions of a shoe sole, or a short distance in front of the middleportion of the tip. The transverseslots a and a are preferably formed totaper to an extent from their inner to their outer ends, as shown inFig. l. I

An edge-engaging flange Z) is provided, which is formed integrally withsaid sole plate and extends continuously about the outer edge thereof,the height ot'said flange corresponding approximately to the. greatestthickness of the edges of the shoes to which the protector is to beapplied. The upper edge of said flange is provided with an inwardlyextending lip c, the under side of which preferably extendsobliquelydownward with relation tothe surface of the sole plate, theupper side of said lip beingtathat it is providedwith a relatively sharpedge, or is wedge shaped n cross-section (see Fig. 5.)

The plate, flange and lip, that is the on tire device, are integrallymolded of elastic rubber in a shape which approximately cor responds tothe shape of a sole of medium size of the seies of soles to which thedevice is adap ed to be applied, while the width of said lip at'itsunder side is at least as great as the width of the edge extension, ordistance from the sole edge to the point of connection of the upper ofany shoe, to

which the device is' likely to be applied.

In practice,v the projecting edge of the shoe is passed beneath the hp 0and the flange Z) is pressed closelyagainst the sole edge, so that thelip is tightly wedged between the edge andthe upper, as shown in Fig.4:.

As theprotector is made of readily flexible and elastic rubber, theflange Z) is adapted to be bent to conform to any configuration of solo,while the lip 0, and the portions of the sole plate opposite the ends ofthe slots therein, are adapted to be stretched or compressed, so thatthey in no a) way interfere with the ready bending of the flange at theends of said slots. For example, in placing the protector on a shoehaving a wide, rounding toe, theflange will be bent opposite the end ofthe middle slot a, so as to swing the two toe sections" apart, while itwill be bent opposite the ends of the otc es-o transverse slots, a anda, so that the rear sections will be swung toward their ad jaeent t psections, as shown in Fig. it may be here note'd'that the slots a and aare made of sullicientwidth at their 'adgaccnt ends to enable the flangeo to he conformed to atoe of as wide shape as would be required withouthaving one bottom sec-- tion over-lap another.

in placing the protector on a narrow tied shoe the tip sections will beheld close to gether, while the flange bwill be bent opposite the endsof the slots a a, so as to swing the rear sections away from the tipsections, as shown in Fig. Generally the toe-portions of the right andleft shoes of a pair vary quite materially in shape,.and it is desirableto have the protector conform equally well to either a right or a leftshoe. For example, the inner edge of the toe-portion of many slices ispractically straight, while the outer edge is formed on a wide curve. inapplying a protector to a shoe of this sort, assuming, for example, thatthe section ais placcdagamst the inner edge of the sole, the section awill be drawn toward the tip of the shoe, while the section a will bedrawn toward the shank, 'with the result that the sides of the slot 0will be drawn close together, or into engagement, as in Fig. *2, whilethe sides of the-slot a willbe swung far apart, as in Fig. 6. Underthese conditions the extent to which the slot or will be opened will beabout half as much as the extent which the slot at is opened.

The lip cis either stretched or pressed together in thus conforming tothe different shapes into which. the flange 6 is bent, and is alsocaused to yield transversely to conform to the varying thicknesses ofthe sdlc edge. By having the lip c extend obliquely toward the bottomplate, as above described. and. shown in Fig. 5, the device is adaptedto be conformed more perfectly to soles of different thickness. That is,in practice the. lip c. is extended toward the bottom plate to an extentsufiicient to engage the upper side of the edge of a-rclatively thinsole, while the height of the flange 7), between the bottom plate andthe inner side oi the lip c, is made approximately equal to thethickness of the edge of a relatively thick sole, the lip 0 beingadapted to yield according to intermediate variations in thickness. Thisarrangement also enables the lip to engage the edge of the sole withsome force, and thus hold the device more securely in place on the shoe.

lit will be apparentthat the protector may thus be made to conform toany intermediate or dili'ere'nt shape, within reasonable limits. whichis likely to be required.

The user, in holding the shoe most conveniently to perform the tiprepairing the lit)

- repairer operation, presses the fingers and thumb against oppositeside portions of the edge flange 7), while the plate orsole-engagingportion rests onthe palm of the hand, the protector thusbeing firmly held in position as an incident to the holding of the shoe.Moreover, by reason of the fact that the de vice is made of soft rubberthe workman is enabled to secure a much firmer grip on the shoe, and tohold it much more easily, than when the device is not used, as the edgesand bottom of the shoe are very slippery when finished, and as thedevice also protects the fingers from the sharp corners of the sole.

Then the sections are swung apart, the elasticity of the lip c and thesole portion at the ends of the slots (1 and a will tend to draw theflange 7) against the edge of the sole, although, while there ispractically no liability of displacement of the protector while the shoeis being held in the hand and operated on as above described, it isfrequentl necessary to place the shoe on the bench for a time to permitthe enamel to harden, the protector being left on the shoe. In suchinstances the frictional engagement of the downwardly inclined lip withthe surface of the projecting sole edge is s'uflicient to retain theprotector in position on the sole. The wedge-shaped form of the lip 0enables the lip to be force-ii so tightly in between the sole and upperas to prevent the liquid which may be applied to the upper from passingabout the edge of the lip onto the sole, and it also affords readyaccess to the upper close to the point at which it is stitched. so thatthe enamel thereon may be and in case the device is used when the upperof a shoe is being cleaned, access may be had to the entire upper forthis purpose, without danger ofdamage to the sole.

With the above described device, it will be apparent that, not only willthe projecting sole edge be effectively protected, but the bottomplate'will prevent the fingers from coming in contact with the sole.

If it is desired to have the bottom plate extended over a greaterportion of the sole, said plate may be provided with rearwardextensions, as a indicated in dotted lines in Fig. ,9. It will also beobvious that the size of the device may be increased to extend, forexample, to the shank, if desired, but for the particular purpose forwhich the device iscspecially designed the particular form shown isbelieved to be the most .desir-able.

It will be apparent that each device is adapted to be used for a widerange of sizes,

it being necessary, in practice, to provide only three sizes of thedevices for childrens, womens an'din ens shoes.

The ends 'ofithe slots a a and a are made rounding, as shown, to preventtearing or breaking of the bottom plate at vthe points at which it isbent.

lVe claim:

1. A protector for the tip portion of a shoe-sole comprising asole-bottom-protecting plate composed of a plurality of partly separatedsections, and a flexible, edge-engaging'flange connecting said sectionsand extending continuously about the outer edges thereof and having acorrespondingly ,extending elastic, inturned, protecting and retaininglip for the exposed upper side of the sole arranged to leave free theadjacent portion of the upper, substantially as described.

2. A protector for the tip-portion of a shoe-sole comprising asole-bottom protecting plate composed of a plurality of partly separatedsections having a sole-edge engaging flange extending continuously aboutthe outer edges thereof, said flange having a correspondingly extending,inturned, edge protecting and retaining lip, and said parts being formedof integrally connected elastic rubber permitting the connectingportions of said sections and said flange and lip to be bent to conformto soles'of different shape, substantially as described.

3. A bottom and edge protector for the toe portion of a shoe-solecomprising a soleshaped bottom protecting portion composed of two pairsof jstly separated sections, one pair former is cover portions adjacentthe tip end of the sole and the other formed to cover portions in therear thereof, a per-.

pendicularly disposed, sole-edge-engaging portion integrally connectedwith said sections, and an inwardly extending lip on the saidedge-engaging portion adapted to engage and cover the upper side of the.sole between its edge and the upper and to leave free the adjacentportion of the upper, said parts being formed of elastic rubber,integrally connected to permit relative swinging movement of saidsections, substantially as described.

1. A bottom and edge protector for the tip portion of a shoe-sole,integrally formed of elastic rubber, and comprising an edgeengagingflange, molded in sole shape and having at its upper edge a protectingand retaining lip arranged to extend adjacent the upper without hearingagainst an apflexible wedge-shaped lip disposed to be pressed betweenthe upper and projecting edge of the sole and out of engagement. with anappreciable portion of the surface of the upper, substantially asdescribed.

6. A protector tor the tip portion of a shoe-sole comprisinganexpansihle sole-bob tom protecting plate having a flexible, up-

of said plate provided with a'corre-r .SQOIIClIH inwardly extending,protecting lip for the-projecting. portion of the sole arranged to leavetree the adjacent portions of the upper, said flange? and lip and theportionjof said plate opposite the front end ofsaid slot being flexibleto'permit the separated portions of said plate to be swung intodiflerent relativdpositions, substantially as described.

8. A protector for the tip portion of. a

shoe sole comprising a tip-shaped solebottom protecting platehaving alongitudinal slot extending from the rear end to a point adjacent thetip.end thereof and two transverse slots leading from said longitudinalslot to points at each side of theplate, a sole-edge-engaging flangeextending about the edges of said sections and having aninwardly'extending protecting lip for the oroiectin ortion of the sole,said flan 'e and lipand the portions of said plate op posite the ends ofsaid slots being flexible to permit theprotector to be conformed -tosoles of different shapes, substantially as described.

9. A protector for the tip portion of a shoe sole comprising atip-shaped sole-bot tom protecting plate molded of flexible rubber andhaving a longitudinal slot extending from the rear end toa pointadjacent the tip' end thereof and two transverse slots leading from saidlongitudinal slot to points at each side of the plate, a sole-edge-engaging flange extending about the edges of said protecting lip tor the projg, g V the sole, said flangeand lip 'and the portions of said plateopposite the ends of said slots being flexible, and the sides of saidtransverse slots being formed to converge toward their outer ends to.permit the sections into which said plate is divided thereby to be swungin opposite directions from the normal relative positions in which theyare molded, substantially as described.

10. A protector for the tip-portion of a shoe sole comprising atip-shaped sol ebottom protecting plate jhaving alongitudinal slotextending from the rear end to a point adjacent the tip end thereof andtwo transverse slots leading from said longitudinal slotto points ateach side of the plate, a sole-edge-engaging flange extending about theedges of said sections and having an inwardly extending protecting lipfor the projecting portion of the sole, said 2 slots being terminatedadjacent said flange and having their ends rounded; said flange and lipand the portions of said plate opposite the ends of said slots beingflexible to permit the protector to be conformed to soles of different.shapes, substantially as described.

sections and having an inwardly extending 11. A protector for thetip-portion of a shoe sole comprising an expansiblesole-bottom-protecting plate having a flexible solecdge-engaging flangeprovided with a transversely and longitudinally flexible, inwardlyprojecting, edge-protecting and retaining lip arranged to leave freetheadjacent portions of the upper, substantially as described.

12. A protector for the tip-portion of a shoe sole comprising anexpansible sole-bottom-protecting portion having a flexibles0le-edge-engaging flange provided with a transversely andlongitudinally flexible lip tapering transversely from said flange anddisposed yieldingly to engage and protect the projecting edge-portion ofthe sole adj acent the upper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to ,this specificationinthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

now/inn o. Mansn'ariii. ERNEST MARSHALL.

Witnesses:

L. H. HARRIMAN, H. B. DAVIS.

